The first in a series presenting the lead isotope results of southwestern Asian artifacts and seven years of archaeometallurgy surveys in Turkey. The geological specimens presented here are ore and slag samples taken from ancient mining sites in the Central Taurus mountain range. The archaeological specimens are metal objects dating to the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age in Anatolia, Syria, Mesopotamia, and the Aegean. Presently, over 900 lead isotope analyses comprise a comprehensive database of specimens analyzed in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution's Conservation Analytical Laboratory and the National Institute of Standards and Terminology, as well as analyses published in the literature. The multivariate statistical probability measurements presented here generate a realistic evaluation for the effectiveness of the use of stable lead isotope measurements for source characterization and exchange patterns of metal in the formative periods of metallurgy.